Appeal court overturns former care worker's conviction for abuse
A former care worker serving an eight-year sentence for abusing children more than 20 years ago had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal yesterday.Anver Daud Sheikh, 52, is among a group of about 120 people convicted of child abuse who claim to be victims of a miscarriage of justice.Mr Sheikh was convicted at York Crown Court in May 2002 of buggery and indecent assault against two boys under his care at a North Yorkshire children’s home where he worked as a housemaster in 1980.The appeal court released him on bail after the prosecution conceded that the conviction was unsafe. Mr Sheikh may face a retrial, but will have to wait until next month to find out.Mr Sheikh’s legal team, who had argued in court yesterday that a retrial would give the prosecution an unjustified “second bite of the cherry”, said after his release that the question of a new trial would again be strongly contested when the case returned to the Court of Appeal next month.
